Soulmate At Your Side
by AxelCat
Summary: Post HP TDH. After Fred died... George was left empty. Without Fred, there was nothing left. This story is the speech he gives at Fred's funeral. Warnings: Talking of death, and non-romantic kisses between siblings.


There was silence for a long time before George spoke. It was awkward. It was painful. Molly had stopped crying, momentarily, before her sobs overtook the room. "So," he started, as his mother cried. His voice was too loud, cracking. He hadn't been speaking in the same way since his ear had been cut off, but the tone of his voice in that moment had nothing to do with not being able to hear. "So, um, when Freddie and I were fourteen... I kissed Angelina Johnson. Without telling Fred." There was silence. Stillness. Angelina's back had straightened quite suddenly, and her eyes were alert.

"I felt so guilty, because... because I told him everything. So I blurted it out one night, in the common room. And he... he started crying. He just wouldn't stop."

Breaths were hitching.

"I tried and tried to get him to tell me what was wrong, and he... he finally blurted out something along the lines of 'I've never kissed anyone before'. I told him that it was okay, and that he didn't have to have. But he told me that... he wanted to. He had wanted to kiss someone. He wanted to kiss... a boy. And he was so scared of that, and he so desperately... wanted to be loved. He felt like... with all our siblings, he was fading into the background. And he so desperately wanted to feel wanted. So... we talked. We talked for a very long time, and I finally convinced him that... that he was loved, and wanted, and cared for, and special. He didn't have to act up to get attention, because I would always love him. I... never, ever said the word 'love' and I told him that I loved him. For the first time since we were kids." He gulped. His eyes were stinging. The lump in his throat was physically painful. "And... he said he wished he had someone like Angelina, to care for him and to kiss. In our childish state, we believed that... your first kiss was your soulmate. So I told him that... he was born with his soulmate right at his side."

Every single Weasley was crying. Harry was crying. Hermione was crying. Angelina was crying. Neville, Luna, Seamus, Hannah, Lee, Alicia, Lavendar, Romilda... all crying. Ron buried his head into his father's shoulder, trying to hold back sobs.

"So I kissed him." Stillness. "I kissed him three times, and told him that I loved him like I would never love anybody else, even though it wasn't in the way he wanted to be loved. But he told me that he loved me like that, too. And we both started crying, and we... we fell asleep in the common room, snot on our faces and attached everywhere that we could be. And when we woke up, it was to the news that our sister had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets. He held my hand. And we realised around then, that... what I had said was entirely true. That we were born... with our soulmate at our side. So, um, from that night on, even when we were fighting about both liking Angelina or him liking Lee-" Lee's eyes went wide, and a sob escaped him. "-or about not being sure about whether we wanted to obey our mother, or whether the business was worth the effort we were putting in, or whether we really wanted to fight against... Voldemort, we told each other that we loved one another. And then everything was okay. We knew it was okay, because... because we had each other, and that was it. Everything would be okay. Until... one day... it wasn't anymore." He looked down at his hands. "So, um, yeah. Freddie, if you're listening to this right now... I'm sorry for embarrassing you... and I love you. I loved you forever, and I will continue to love you... for forever."

He stepped down from the stage and went, as calmly as he could, back to his seat beside his mother, and then? He started to sob. Harsh, ripping sounds came from his throat, and he let out a weak cry. He hadn't let himself cry. But he had said it, it was done, he had accepted it: Fred was dead. And that was all there was left.


End file.
